Tubro Inlet O-Ring DIY

[jeremyuhh]

Original thread that pointed me the right direction:
Turbo oil leak.

I had occasional puffs of grey smoke coming out of my exhaust and my turbos looked very similar to the images in the thread. Im at 140k miles so I figured its time seals and gaskets need to be changed.

This is a fairly simple replacement, just 1 very inconvenient nut. Shout out to EGbeater and Track/S for their contribution. This 1/4 9" flex head ratchet was clutch but you can get creative if you dont feel like buying.

Parts needed:
cyl 1-3 turbo o-ring: 11657850066
cyl 4-6 turbo o-ring: 11657850067



Cyl 1-3 has the oil leak because PCV.
Cyl 4-6 should be dry because its clean air only.
Each O-ring is a different size. I replaced cyl 4-6 cause why not, its also extremely simple.

Its recommended to get Viton (FKM) material O-rings as they will not harden or get brittle, like the OEM ones do. Sizing is 47x3.5MM. I ordered mine from veryseal.com but as i type this, it is still has yet to be delivered. Came from China and its being routed all over the place. Its been almost a month. I would stay away from them and order from a local shop, or try your luck elsewhere. I ended up using OEM O-rings from my dealer which came next day cause I needed to get my car running to go to work.

Prep

Jack your car up, remove undertray/shield, left side (passenger side) inlet nut is easer to remove from the bottom. Might also be able to achieve this from the top, but I didnt try since i was doing my downpipes at the same time and was already working underneath the vehicle.

CYL 1-3 FRONT TURBO
Step 1
Remove CF Strut tower brace, covers, and intakes.



Step 2

Disconnect top of PCV hose by squeezing and pulling, or maybe just pulling, i dont remember, it just came off, lol.



Step 3

Remove bottom of PCV hose by disconnecting plug, unscrew T25 screw and pull hose out.



Step 4
Remove 10mm bolt



Step 5
Now its time to remove the two 10MM nuts securing the inlet pipe to the turbo housing. It was easier for me to remove both
nuts from the bottom, underneath the car. Take your 1/4 ratchet with a 10MM socket and easily remove the passenger side nut. Breaks easily and can be loosened and removed with your fingers. NOTE: housing is clean because i documented my steps in reverse. I decided to do a DIY after i swapped the o-rings.



For the drive side nut, some members were able to get it from the top, it was easier for me to remove it from the bottom. I was also very comfortable on the creeper and didnt want to get up, lol. I also have smaller hands which let me squeeze them in between the steering rack and sway bar. I also removed to plugs for more room.



Step 6
Now youre able to pull off the plastic inlet pipe.


This is what my turbo inlet housing looked like. Ton of crud and oil and the OEM orange O-Ring was rock solid. Had to use a few picks to break and pry it out. Dont worry, I removed the left over build-up after taking the after photo.



Step 7
Now do everything in reverse starting with the inlet pipe. Getting the passenger side nut on was easy, threading the driver side nut was a PITA, for me at least. So i used a magnetic extension to hold the nut in place while slow threading it on with my fingers from the bottom of the car.



CYL 4-6 REAR TURBO
Step 1
Remove 10mm Bolt holding rear inlet pipe to valve cover. Yep, thats it. Dont have to remove the upper pipe, no need to loosen the clamp, it can come out together.



Step 2
Replace O-Ring


Step 3
Reassemble everything. You will notice how much harder it is to push the inlet pipe back down on the housing.

Hope this helps. I love being able to have visuals while reading through threads, esp. DIYs. Just trying to contribute to the knowledge and information that is shared on this forum.

[Blocke]

You are the man. This has been on my “to-do” list for a while, your write up will definitely help. Thanks!

[hC1001]

Really good write up. Much appreciated.

Just so i understand, these o-rings just seal the air intake inlet tubes going into the turbos. The leaking oil is oil from the PCV hose on the front turbo inlet. Did you still have a lot of oil in the front turbo inlet even with the mishimoto oil catch can you have installed?

I dont have any leaking oil but the rear turbos inlet tube is really loose fitting. Did you remove the old grease on it and apply new? What type of grease did you use?

I just did the valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket and belts. I shouldve done this too while i had everything off.

[jeremyuhh]

Originally Posted by hC1001

Really good write up. Much appreciated.

Just so i understand, these o-rings just seal the air intake inlet tubes going into the turbos. The leaking oil is oil from the PCV hose on the front turbo inlet. Did you still have a lot of oil in the front turbo inlet even with the mishimoto oil catch can you have installed?

I dont have any leaking oil but the rear turbos inlet tube is really loose fitting. Did you remove the old grease on it and apply new? What type of grease did you use?

I just did the valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket and belts. I shouldve done this too while i had everything off.

I installed the catch can while doing this DIY. Just photographed it in reverse. I’ll examine the catch can in a few months. Planning to also replace my valve cover.

I didn’t notice any old grease on the original old o-ring and didnt use any grease. On the new o-ring.

[MetzgerMeister]

I did this DIY at the weekend. It's not hard but a bit awkward but it has solved my weird idle issue.

I was having trouble getting the top screw started on the bolt as my arm was too big to get through the gap between the subframe and sway bar. I was lying there looking at it for a while thinking of what to do and I came up with an ingenious solution - I greased the sway bar and subframe and slid my arm through without issue. So much so I was nearly able to reach the top of the valve cover

Having a long-handled swivel 1/4" ratchet is key to being able to undo and redo the bolts. I was going to order one from Amazon but it wasn't going to be delivered in time so I fashioned one out of a telescopic ratchet and a piece of metal tubing:



As you can see it needs to swivel like this due to the access:



Old (like plastic and very brittle) vs new:



It was quite dirty around this area with crusty old oil but all cleaned:



New seal:



This was a bit awkward to get in place as I had the car up on ramps and was too lazy to get something to stand on Once you set it in one part of the recess it can pop out when you set it in another. Again, not hard but awkward.

I also did the rear turbo but didn't take any photos as it's a hell of a lot easier. Mostly the same steps as a spark plug change. The old seal here came off a little too easily as it had already cracked and I didn't know about it until I removed it. New one slid on easily and without issue. As a previous poster said, you'll notice it's a bit harder to get the air intake tube back on which is good because it shows how much of a difference a new seal makes!

[ra2289]

jeremyuhh

Is the o-ring for cyl 4-6 the same size? Looking to do viton o-rings and trying to verify the size the same 47 x 3.5mm across both turbos.

[MetzgerMeister]

They're 2 different sizes. The black one for the rear turbo is seated on the outside of the inlet pipe and the front one is seated on the inside of the inlet pipe.

[ra2289]

Originally Posted by MetzgerMeister

They're 2 different sizes. The black one for the rear turbo is seated on the outside of the inlet pipe and the front one is seated on the inside of the inlet pipe.

Gotcha. Do you know the size of the black one?

[MetzgerMeister]

I've no idea as I went with OEM rings rather than Vikon

[ra2289]

Originally Posted by MetzgerMeister

I've no idea as I went with OEM rings rather than Vikon

Ok gotcha.

[F8eighty]

Originally Posted by jeremyuhh

Original thread that pointed me the right direction:
Turbo oil leak.

I had occasional puffs of grey smoke coming out of my exhaust and my turbos looked very similar to the images in the thread. Im at 140k miles so I figured its time seals and gaskets need to be changed.

This is a fairly simple replacement, just 1 very inconvenient nut. Shout out to EGbeater and Track/S for their contribution. This 1/4 9" flex head ratchet was clutch but you can get creative if you dont feel like buying.

Parts needed:
cyl 1-3 turbo o-ring: 11657850066
cyl 4-6 turbo o-ring: 11657850067



Cyl 1-3 has the oil leak because PCV.
Cyl 4-6 should be dry because its clean air only.
Each O-ring is a different size. I replaced cyl 4-6 cause why not, its also extremely simple.

Its recommended to get Viton (FKM) material O-rings as they will not harden or get brittle, like the OEM ones do. Sizing is 47x3.5MM. I ordered mine from veryseal.com but as i type this, it is still has yet to be delivered. Came from China and its being routed all over the place. Its been almost a month. I would stay away from them and order from a local shop, or try your luck elsewhere. I ended up using OEM O-rings from my dealer which came next day cause I needed [...]

So you did all this without pulling the turbos out?

[MetzgerMeister]

The turbos don’t need to be removed at all. Everything is fully accessible as per the posts.

My local bmw dealer told me the engine has to come out in order to do this job. Unbelievable bullshit and makes me wonder do the techs actually know what they’re doing or are they trying to gouge people whom they think haven’t a clue?

[SteveChester]

Can someone sort out the missing images on this thread?

[jeremyuhh]

Originally Posted by SteveChester

Can someone sort out the missing images on this thread?

view on desktop. for some reason the images dont appear on the app.

[SteveChester]

Ok thanks sorry didn’t realise.

[WarMachineM3]

Originally Posted by jeremyuhh

Original thread that pointed me the right direction:
Turbo oil leak.

I had occasional puffs of grey smoke coming out of my exhaust and my turbos looked very similar to the images in the thread. Im at 140k miles so I figured its time seals and gaskets need to be changed.

This is a fairly simple replacement, just 1 very inconvenient nut. Shout out to EGbeater and Track/S for their contribution. This 1/4 9" flex head ratchet was clutch but you can get creative if you dont feel like buying.

Parts needed:
cyl 1-3 turbo o-ring: 11657850066
cyl 4-6 turbo o-ring: 11657850067



Cyl 1-3 has the oil leak because PCV.
Cyl 4-6 should be dry because its clean air only.
Each O-ring is a different size. I replaced cyl 4-6 cause why not, its also extremely simple.

Its recommended to get Viton (FKM) material O-rings as they will not harden or get brittle, like the OEM ones do. Sizing is 47x3.5MM. I ordered mine from veryseal.com but as i type this, it is still has yet to be delivered. Came from China and its being routed all over the place. Its been almost a month. I would stay away from them and order from a local shop, or try your luck elsewhere. I ended up using OEM O-rings from my dealer which came next day cause I needed [...]

What is the size is the rear turbo seal since they're different sizes? The front seal is 47x3.5 MM (for FKM), what size is the rear turbo o-ring?

[M-SJ3]

Thank you for the DIY mate! One Q, did you apply any silicon grease to the o-ring, or was it slotted in dry? Enough give?

[ra2289]

jeremyuhh Just did this and the write up helped a lot, thanks.

I’m at 77k miles and my front turbo didn’t look as bad although there was obvious buildup that needed to be cleaned. The seals on both turbos had hardened and they both broke apart when uninstalling.

I used Veryseal to source a viton front o-ring, wasn’t sure of the rear turbo size so I went with OEM, and my package arrived 11 days later. They’re either hit-and-miss or maybe they’ve gotten better idk.

[ApexEight]

Thank you for this DIY.

I noticed a bunch of oil gunk on the housing of my front turbo during an oil change. I was afraid the turbo blew. Found this thread and tackled the seal replacement and was surprised that both were not hardened and still pliable like the new ones I got. Went ahead and replaced both anyway. Broke the PCV hose during reinstallation, it had gotten brittle from all of the heat cycles. It had a good amount of oil in it. Made another trip to the dealership and paid $100 for a replacement. I hope I've solved the issue.

I was also able to complete the install without having to get a long-reach flex-head 1/4" ratchet. I was able to loosen the left side bolt from the top by moving the charge pipe and that other connector out of the way. Getting it back on was actually more challenging. Could not do it from the top so went from the bottom - removing the sway bar bushing bracket nuts to give my arm a tiny bit more space was key, as was removing a couple connectors that were also in the way. It gave me just enough space to get the nut started by hand and then I was able to slowly tighten it with my standard short 1/4" ratchet. Oh, getting the rear turbo seal off was actually a bit on a pain. I kept trying to lift it up and out with my pick tool, but then i realized it was easier to push it down and hook it out instead.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by ApexEight

Thank you for this DIY.

I noticed a bunch of oil gunk on the housing of my front turbo during an oil change. I was afraid the turbo blew. Found this thread and tackled the seal replacement and was surprised that both were not hardened and still pliable like the new ones I got. Went ahead and replaced both anyway. Broke the PCV hose during reinstallation, it had gotten brittle from all of the heat cycles. It had a good amount of oil in it. Made another trip to the dealership and paid $100 for a replacement. I hope I've solved the issue.

I was also able to complete the install without having to get a long-reach flex-head 1/4" ratchet. I was able to loosen the left side bolt from the top by moving the charge pipe and that other connector out of the way. Getting it back on was actually more challenging. Could not do it from the top so went from the bottom - removing the sway bar bushing bracket nuts to give my arm a tiny bit more space was key, as was removing a couple connectors that were also in the way. It gave me just enough space to get the nut started by hand and then I was able to slowly tighten it with my standard short 1/4" ratchet. Oh, getting the rear turbo seal off was actually a bit on a pain. I kept trying to lift it up and out with my pick tool, but then i realized it was easier to push it down and hook it out instead.

It's normal to have some oil buildup on the front turbo because that's the one where the PCV vents to.

[Full_of_fit]

Man thank you so much for this! This is probably the most complete DIY I have seen, the arrows and the exact bolt being circled must have been very this consuming, so once again thank you very much,
Ian